International Patent Application PCT/EP2007/00355 [WO/2007/085367] filed by the present applicant discloses a control system for a vehicle that includes an electrode arrangement by means of which the spatial movement of one of the driver's or passenger's hands may be detected and, based on the movement, switching and input operations may be initiated, for example, for operating a navigation device.
German patent application DE 10 2007 016 408, also filed by the present applicant, discloses a mobile telephone equipped with a sensor device by means of which input operations may be made in a contact-free fashion via the user's finger.
In addition, German patent application DE 10 2007 039 163 filed by the present applicant discloses a computer mouse that allows mouse and menu control functions to be performed by means of hand gestures relative to the computer mouse.
German patent application DE 10 2007 036 636 filed by the present applicant and German patent application DE 10 2008 009 956 disclose a doll provided with multiple electrodes by way of which the gestures of the child playing with the doll relative to the doll may be detected, thus operating language playback functions of the doll and, optionally, activating mechatronic components of the doll. This technology makes it possible to develop a particularly realistic dialog with the toy that is not monotonous.
In the systems mentioned above, the spatial movement of a hand is detected relative to the detection system on the basis of field-electrical interactive effects. For this purpose, the detection system is equipped with electrodes that are integrated into LC networks and that deliver signals that provide information on the spacing between the hand and the electrode. These signals may be used to calculate the path of a gesture. Gestures may in turn be determined from the calculated path.
The calculation of distance and path information may be done by an electronic circuit in which characteristic gesture paths are stored in an electronic memory.